FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 23, 1999
CONTACT:
Michelle Slattery, 202-651-7027
Dawn Marks, 202-651-7198
rn=realnews@ana.org
www.nursingworld.org
ANA HOUSE OF DELEGATES ACTS ON CRITICAL PRACTICE & HEALTH POLICY ISSUES
Washington, D.C. — The American Nurses Association (ANA) House of Delegates (HOD), which meets annually, took action to reaffirm its commitment to patient advocacy and to shape the future of nursing when it set policy in several major areas at its meeting on June 17-20 in Washington, DC. The ANA HOD, which is comprised of 615 elected delegates from ANA's 53 constituent associations, is the governing and official voting body of ANA.
Some of the decisions made regarding health care policy and practice issues, such as needlestick protections for registered nurses, interstate practice of nursing, medication waste in long-term care facilities, and patient privacy follow:
Health and Safety: Due to the growing number of hazards that nurses face in the workplace such as needlestick and back injuries, latex allergy, workplace violence and chemical exposure, ANA has taken the lead in calling for legislative and regulatory provisions to ensure safer working conditions. To protect nurses, ANA has taken a comprehensive approach to research, education, policy and advocacy on health and safety issues. The ANA HOD directed the association to amplify its work pressuring regulatory and accrediting agencies to implement standards that require safer needle devices to prevent needlestick injuries to health care workers. Health care workers sustain more than 600,000 needlestick and sharps injuries each year, resulting in more than 1,000 new cases of HIV, hepatitis C or hepatitis B. ANA will continue to call on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to require health care employers to involve and provide training to health care workers in the selection and implementation of safer devices. The HOD also directed ANA to continue its "Caring for those who care" education and advocacy efforts to alleviate the alarming incidence of occupational injuries and illnesses faced by health care workers.
Nursing Practice
Interstate Practice: With more and more nurses practicing across state lines, the HOD reaffirmed ANA's commitment to consumer access to nursing services. The HOD gave its support to states that use telehealth permits or a registry to hold out-of-state nurses accountable to their licensing agency and regulations. The HOD also supports the approach that physical practice in any state requires licensure by that state and that telenursing practice is regulated by the state in which is the nurse is located.
Nursing Workforce: Nursing is again experiencing a nursing shortage. The ANA reaffirmed its dedication to addressing this significant change by advocating for multi-disciplinary health workforce planning, which would include models for predicting nursing shortages. Additionally, ANA will analyze and develop strategies to address the impact of the aging nursing population and the occupational health factors associated with an older workforce.
Independent Prescriptive Privileges for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs): The HOD called for ANA to take a proactive position in support of the proposed Department of Veterans Affairs' rules enabling independent prescriptive authority for APRNs. ANA will also monitor activities related to implementation of the rules for independent prescribing practices of APRNs in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Health Care Cost and Privacy
Privacy and Confidentiality: The development of computerized medical databases and telehealth systems raises serious concerns about patient privacy and the confidentiality of health care information. Privacy and confidentiality are key to the trusting relationship between nurses and patients. The HOD recommended the development of an ANA position statement on patient privacy and the confidentiality of health records/information and the nurses' role in preserving privacy/confidentiality as technological advances affect the transmission and storage of information. A decision was also made to inform and educate ANA members about nursing's role in protecting patient privacy.
Medication Waste: Millions of dollars per year, per state are lost through the waste of unused medications in long-term care facilities. The HOD recommended that ANA study and make policy recommendations for the elimination of medication waste in long-term care facilities, including the impact of prescribing practices and fiscal, regulatory, and reimbursement policies. ANA will also develop a policy statement and template to assist the State Nurses Associations in preventing and decreasing medication waste in long-term care facilities and advocate for changes, including but not limited to, federal regulatory changes required to reduce medication waste.
Preparing for Retirement
Pension Equity & Social Security: Retirement income, including Social Security, pension income, and personal savings, is a critical issue for nurses. A disproportionate number of nurses are women, and women generally have less pension coverage and rely on Social Security as their sole source of income more often than men. The HOD recommended ANA further expand its activities in advocating for pension equity and support the continuation of Social Security as an important social insurance safety net for all. ANA will oppose individual private investment accounts that threaten the structure of the Social Security program and will oppose any increases in the eligibility age for full retirement benefits.
Following are other HOD recommendations regarding health care policy and practice issues:
- Reaffirm a previous commitment to gun control measures and advocating a position, including, but not limited to, a 72-hour waiting period as part of background checks, which is consistent with ANA's past policy.
- Endorse the single payer mechanism as the most desirable option for financing a reformed health care system and to continue efforts to increase access to quality health care for all.
- Develop a position statement on cloning which expresses ANA's support for the current federal moratorium on human cloning and concern that restrictions on human cloning research do not impede important biomedical advances.
- ANA should advocate to reduce discrimination toward people and families with or at risk for a condition with a genetic component. In addition, ANA should promote the inclusion of information about genetics in continuing education programming so all nurses have a strong knowledge of genetics.
- Include content on the prevention, recognition of and nursing response to mass casualty incidents within nursing curriculum and continuing education programming. Nursing can and should play a critical role in response to mass casualty situations.
The HOD also approved several bylaws changes that streamline and revitalize the organization. For more information about the bylaws changes, visit www.nursingworld.org/ana2000/
The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 53 constituent associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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